Kekova Boat Trip from Kaş: Sunken City, Simena Castle and What to Book

Most people should book the standard full-day boat from Kaş harbour. It costs from about €55, takes eight hours and includes lunch and the Simena Castle ticket, with four or five swim stops along the way. Pick a sea kayak trip instead if you want to see the sunken city up close rather than from a busy deck. The small-group trip through Demre suits you if Myra is on your list too. For warm water without the peak crowds, go in June or September.

Kekova is the stretch of sheltered sea about 20 km east of Kaş, between the long, bare Kekova Island and the mainland villages of Kaleköy and Üçağız. On the island’s north shore, walls, steps and house foundations of an ancient town run down into clear water. Above Kaleköy stands Simena Castle, and a Lycian sarcophagus sits in the shallows below it. There is no road to most of this, which is why almost everyone comes by boat. To write this guide we compared the Kekova trips sold from Kaş in November 2026, read their itineraries and recent reviews, and checked ticket prices. For the timing advice we used ten years of weather records from Kaş and three years of sea temperatures just offshore.

What you see on a Kekova trip

The sunken city. In antiquity Kekova Island was called Dolichiste. A town on its northern shore was wrecked by earthquakes in the 2nd century AD, and part of it now lies under water. From a boat you see staircases that end in the sea and house walls cut off at the waterline. On a calm day you can also make out foundations on the sea floor. The area has been protected since 1990, and swimming and diving over the ruins are not allowed. Boats slow down and pass along the shore, so expect about half an hour here, not a landing.

Kaleköy and Simena. Kaleköy is the village on the ancient site of Simena, and it has no road: you arrive by boat or on foot. Stone houses climb from a small quay to a medieval castle with a tiny theatre cut into the rock inside its walls. Lycian tombs are scattered over the hillside, and one sarcophagus stands in the sea a few metres off the shore. Most boats stop here for about an hour.

The bays. Swim stops are made away from the ruins, in bays such as Tersane, where the shell of a Byzantine church stands near the beach, and Akvaryum (Aquarium) Bay, named for its clear water. Which bays you get depends on the boat and the wind on the day.

Üçağız. The village of Üçağız, ancient Teimiussa, is the closest harbour to the sunken city. Kayak trips and many small boats start here, and the Lycian tombs of Teimiussa stand by the shore next to the village.

Three ways to do it from Kaş

Almost every Kekova trip from Kaş belongs to one of three types. The table compares one well-reviewed example of each, as listed on GetYourGuide on 13 November 2026. Prices are “from” prices and change with the date.

The big boat from Kaş harbour

This is the classic day out. Expect a large wooden boat with sunbeds on the top deck, leaving Kaş harbour in the morning. Because they sail the whole way, you see the coast east of Kaş on the way out, and you never sit in a minibus. The catch is the crowd: one reviewer of the Captain Ergun Kekova boat tour counted around 90 people on board in August, though they said it did not feel that full. Lunch is cooked on board and the Simena Castle ticket is included on that trip.

Sea kayaking from Üçağız

A kayak gets you closer to the sunken city than any tour boat, and you paddle right along the ruins. On the Go Lycia Kekova sea kayaking tour, a van takes you from Kaş to Üçağız, where you get a safety briefing and set off in a group of up to eight. The day covers about 8 km of paddling in sheltered water, split into short legs, with time in Kaleköy and a swim stop. No experience is needed, but you should be reasonably fit, and the weight limit is 120 kg. The castle ticket is included.

Small group via Demre, with Myra

On the small-group Kekova, Demre and Myra trip, a minibus collects you in Kaş and drives about 48 km to Demre harbour. From there a smaller boat covers the sunken city, Kaleköy and several bays. On the way back you visit ancient Myra, where Lycian tombs are carved into a cliff face above a Roman theatre. It is a long day of ten hours, but the boat is far less crowded, and you see two of the region’s best sights in one go. The listing is not clear on whether the Myra ticket is included, so ask before you pay.

A typical day on the big boat

The timetable below is the itinerary of the Captain Ergun boat from Kaş. Other boats follow a similar loop but may swap the bays, and every captain changes the order when the wind picks up.

Of the eight hours, only about half an hour is spent at the sunken city itself. The rest is swimming, lunch and the stop in Kaleköy. If the ruins are your main reason to go, a kayak trip spends far more time near them.

Simena Castle: ticket and climb

Simena Castle is the one paid sight on a Kekova trip. Entry was 200 TL in November 2026, and the MuseumPass Türkiye is valid. It is open daily, from 8am to 7pm in summer and 8:30am to 5:30pm in winter. It is an uphill walk from the quay, so wear shoes you can climb in rather than flip-flops. From the top you look down on the islets and moored boats of the bay, the view in our cover photo. Inside the walls is a theatre with only a few rows of seats cut into the rock.

If your boat gives you an hour in Kaleköy, the climb takes a good part of it. One reviewer of the Demre trip, there at the end of October, managed only the castle and wished for an extra hour to walk around the village and see the tombs.

Best time to go

Kekova trips run from about April to October, and some operators continue into November. The table combines average highs from the Kaş weather station (2016 to 2025), the share of days with at least 1 mm of rain in the same years, and the mean sea temperature just off Kaş (2023 to 2025).

The sea sets the season more than the air. In April it is still about 19°C, and in May 21°C, fine for a quick dip but cold for four swim stops. By June it is 25°C and it stays above 28°C from July to September. October, at 26°C, is warmer than June. July and August bring the crowds and the heat: highs of 35°C (95°F) or more were recorded on 25% of July days, which you feel on the castle climb. That leaves June and September as the best months, with late May and early October close behind. At the end of October, one reviewer wrote that only a few people swam at the first stop, and by the last stop just one was still going in.

Going on your own from Üçağız

With a car you can skip the organised tour. Üçağız is 33 km from Kaş, about 42 minutes by road. Boatmen in the harbour offer trips to the sunken city and Kaleköy. The ruins are only a couple of kilometres across the bay, so this can be a much shorter outing than a day trip from Kaş. Agree on the route, the time and the price before you set off. If you want the whole boat for a family or group, private trips on GetYourGuide start at about €1,200 for up to 12 people from Üçağız or Demre. Our guide to car rentals in Turkey covers hiring a car on this coast.

Before you book

• Bring cash. You will want it for ice cream or a drink in Kaleköy, and for the castle if your tour does not include it. The kayak operator puts cash on its packing list, and one kayak reviewer paid 20 TL for the toilets and 50 TL for a shower in Üçağız.
• Bring ID. The Captain Ergun tour asks guests to bring a passport or ID card.
• Check the drinks rule. The Captain Ergun listing does not allow you to bring your own drinks on board.
• Keep snorkelling hopes modest. The water is very clear, but a September reviewer found few fish, and swimming over the ruins is not allowed.
• Book ahead in July and August. The Captain Ergun trip is marked “likely to sell out”. All three trips in our table can be cancelled free of charge up to 24 hours before.
• Staying in Kalkan? Trips from there sail further, and Üçağız is 58 km away by road. Our Kaş vs Kalkan comparison explains why Kaş is the better base for Kekova.

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